Monsters Within the Falls
by FrostyPines
Summary: It looks like an ordinary day for Dipper and Mabel Pines, until they stumble across a strange river. When people start changing all over town, it's up to them to find a way to escape the monsters within. Rated T for some dark themes and mild violence.
1. Chapter 1

Dipper looked up from the journal when he heard running water. He had come to a small river in a sunny patch of the forest. Mabel came up behind him with something in her hand.

"Look, Dipper! I found the cutest caterpillar!" She held out one finger to show Dipper the fuzzy creature resting on it. She giggled. "It tickles when he walks."

Dipper glanced over without much interest. "Cool, Mabel." He looked down at the book again. "It says here that this river is called the _Commutatus Fluvius_ , and that it has never been studied. Something about the other creatures in the forest warning Ford about it. Hmm, I would have thought that he'd test it out anyway." He flipped through a couple pages, looking for more information.

"Come on, Dip, that stuff is boring." Mabel said, petting the caterpillar. "Let's go back to the Shack."

"But Mabel, if I can figure out what the deal is with this river, then maybe Ford will finally let me work with him!" Dipper pulled out a test tube from his vest. "I have to show him that I can research this stuff too." He stepped onto the bank of the river, leaning over it with the tube in one hand and a lid in the other. "Just a couple drops…"

Behind him, Mabel was trying to tickle the caterpillar. She accidentally nudged it off her finger and it fell into the sparse grass. She exclaimed and went down on her knees, trying to find it. She saw it off to the side and turned quickly, bumping Dipper as he went to scoop up some water from the river.

"Ah!" Dipper yelled, tumbling into the cold water. He gasped as his head came above the surface and kicked his legs to stay afloat. "Mabel!"

"Oh, sorry, Dipper!" She ran to the bank of the river and tried to grab him, but he had gotten swept away from the bank.

Dipper grumbled to himself as he paddled towards the shore. The river was not fast moving or dangerous, but it was extremely cold. He grabbed Mabel's outstretched hand as he neared her and she hauled him onto dry ground.

"Oh man, that's cold!" Dipper said, standing up and shivering. His clothes were completely soaked and his hair was hanging down in his face, streaming with water.

"Sorry!" Mabel said again. She wiped her wet hand off on her sweater and grabbed Dipper's journal. "Let's head back and get you some dry clothes."

Dipper nodded and followed her back to the Shack. He was shivering worse than ever, and starting to get itchy. They entered the house and went upstairs to the attic, where Dipper put on some fresh clothes and Mabel put the caterpillar on her dresser.

"Why are you two back so early?" Stan asked, entering the room.

"Dipper fell in the river," Mabel said, trying not to laugh and pointing to the pile of sopping clothes at the foot of Dipper's bed.

Dipper shot her a look, scratching his leg distractedly.

"Aw, tough luck, kid." Stan said. "Well, since you guys are here, want anything for lunch?"

"Peanut butter sandwich please!" Mabel said.

"I'll have a salad or something." Dipper said, still a bit grumpy.

"A salad?" Stan asked, "Don't know if we have any. I'll bring you a sandwich, too." He marched out of the room and down the stairs.

"Gee, thanks." Dipper muttered. He rubbed his ear, which was also bothering him.

"At least he's making us lunch," Mabel said, "That's nicer than normal." She could see that Dipper was still upset, but she didn't understand why. "What's up, bro?"

"Nothing, I just itch all over." Dipper said, continuing to scratch. "I must have gotten a million mosquito bites." Mabel continued to look concerned. Dipper sighed. "Nothing against you, Mabel. Sorry for being grumpy. Could you scratch my back?"

She laughed a bit. "Wow, that must really be bothering you." She walked over and scratched his back a bit through his shirt. She noticed something odd as she rubbed her hand up and down.

"Hey Dip, I think you've got something in your shirt." She said curiously.

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, I feel it too. Just a sec." He walked into the bathroom by their room, still rubbing both his ears. They felt weirdly soft and floppy. Like the cartilage had dissolved or something. He closed the door to the bathroom behind him and pulled off his shirt. He couldn't see any evidence of bug bites, though he was still itching like crazy. He checked inside his shirt, but he didn't see anything that could have caused the weird padding he felt beneath Mabel's fingers.

He scratched his lower back. "What the-?" He said out loud. There was definitely something soft on his back. Maybe some moss or weed had gotten stuck to him when he fell in the river? He tried to pull it off, but it seemed attached to his skin.

Suddenly, he felt a jolt of pain course through him. He cried out, falling to the bathroom floor.

"Dipper?" Mabel's voice came from outside the locked door. "What's up, bro?"

Dipper writhed on the floor, pain wracking his entire body. He groaned, but couldn't say anything. With the strongest jolt of pain yet came a darkness at the corners of his vision, and he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh…" Dipper opened his eyes blearily. The pain was gone, but his head was aching.

"Dipper? Dipper are you okay?" Mabel sounded frantic. She was pounding on the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dipper said. "Just blacked out for a sec." He tried to push himself to his feet, but something wasn't right. His legs felt weird. He looked down at where they should be, and a foreign sight met his eyes.

His shorts were torn into pieces around where his legs were a minute before. And attached to his torso were four long, spindly, brown legs that definitely did not belong to him.

He screamed.

"What?" Mabel asked from the other side of the door. "Dipper, what happened?"

He was breathing heavily, staring at the bottom half of his body. He couldn't say anything. He looked at where the soft, brown fur started on his stomach, thickening as it moved towards his legs. He twisted around, seeing his elongated body stretch behind him and attach to two more legs. And a short, tufted tail poked up at the back. He stared at it. It twitched.

"Uhh… Mabel?" He called through the door, trying to stay calm. He propped himself up on one of his front knees, trying to stand up.

"What?" She sounded both exasperated and worried. "Dip, tell me what's happening already!"

Trying to steady his breath, he got up and took a few wobbly steps toward the door. He leaned against it and unlocked it, falling forward as it swung open.

Mabel stumbled back and stared at him, lying facedown on the floor, back legs sticking up absurdly in the air.

"What the heck?" She said in astonishment.

"Help me!" Dipper said frantically, pushing himself back up onto his knees. Mabel took his hand and pulled him up, staring at him.

"Oh my gosh, Dipper, what is that?" She said, pointing to his lower half.

"I don't know!" Dipper said with distress. He looked down, still unable to believe his eyes. "I don't know!" He took another wobbly step forward, and the momentum pulled him into a few more. Unable to coordinate his front and back legs, he fell again.

Mabel looked down at him lying sprawled on the floor. She examined his furry back and skinny legs. "I would say you're a centaur, but that does not look like a horse." She sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

"Mabel! How can you think this is funny? I- I'm-" Dipper couldn't seem to think of words to adequately describe his predicament. "I'm a freak!" His voice broke, and he sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, come on, Dipper, this is pretty cool!" Mabel said, helping him up again. "Come on, let's get you into our room."

"Cool?!" Dipper said incredulously, but he allowed her to support him as he stumbled into the attic bedroom.

He sat with a thump in the middle of the room, awkwardly folding his new legs beneath him. He tried to breathe normally. "Okay…" he said, trying to calm down. "Ohhhhkay…"

"I think I figured out what you are," Mabel said.

"Oh yeah?" Dipper replied, trying to keep his voice clear of fear or anger.

Mabel nodded. "You're a deer!"

"A deer?" Dipper twisted around to examine himself. She was right. The short tail and white spots on his back made him look like Bambi.

She giggled. "Have you seen your ears?"

"My ears? What about them?" He said frantically, still trying to come to grips with the situation. He put his hands up to feel them, and long, velvety flaps met his fingertips. In his surprise, he felt them rotate and stand straight up.

Mabel laughed again. "They've been doing that the whole time!" She stroked Dipper's back. "You're so soft," she said in wonder.

Dipper shivered under her touch. The fur between her fingers and his skin made it feel like she was rubbing a blanket on him.

"Here, why don't you see for yourself," Mabel said, getting a mirror off her bedside table and bringing it to him.

He took the mirror and held it up. He was shocked to see not only fluffy ears sticking out of his hair, but the tips of antlers as well. His nose was discolored and dark, and he had little brown spots creeping up his neck and scattered on his shoulders.

That's when he realized that he wasn't wearing any clothes.

"Ah!" Out of habit, he tried to cross his legs, but ended up tangling himself. "Mabel! Get me a shirt!"

Mabel laughed. "I don't know, I'm loving the natural look."

He glared at her. "Mabel!"

She rolled her eyes and went over to his dresser, throwing him one of his orange shirts. "Don't expect me to get you pants, though." She said, still half laughing.

He glared at her again and pulled the shirt on.

Just then, they heard Stan coming up the attic steps. Dipper whipped around, looking frightened. "Don't let him see me!" He said wildly. He scrambled to get up and onto his bed, but all he did was make a ruckus as he knocked things over.

Mabel ran to the door and held it shut just as Stan tried to open it.

"Hey, what gives?" He said. "I'm bringing you kids lunch!"

"Uh, just a minute!" Mabel said, looking at Dipper. He was trying to get his back legs onto his bed and presumably under the covers. He was still stamping around and making quite a lot of noise.

"What's up, you got an animal in there or something?" Stan said, half laughing.

"Uh, yes! We brought home a deer!" Mabel said quickly. Dipper looked at her angrily. "I mean, no! Nope! There's nothing in here at all!"

"Just let me in already," Stan grumbled.

"No! You can't come in!" Mabel said, pressing herself against the door with all her might.

Stan sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Your sandwiches are out here then. That's the last time I do something nice for you, ungrateful little…" They heard him walking away, muttering to himself.

Mabel exhaled and slid down the door. Dipper stopped attempting to get into his bed and trotted over to her. He settled himself down next to her.

"Why didn't you want him to see you?" Mabel asked, glancing at him.

Dipper looked at her, his ears rotating back and down. "Mabel, are you crazy? He would put me on display! It was bad enough pretending to be the pre-teen wolf boy, but this?" He gestured to his new body, "He'd probably market me to the whole world!"

Mabel sighed. "I guess you have a point."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Dipper got an idea. "Hey, do you think you could bring Ford up here?" He asked her.


	3. Chapter 3

_If there's one person who can explain this, it's Ford_ , Dipper thought to himself as he sat behind the attic door. He pushed his long body up against it so no one could come in unless he moved. He heard Mabel and Ford coming up the stairs and scrambled out of the way.

"What could possibly be so important, Mabel?" Ford was saying, "I was in the middle of my research."

Mabel laughed nervously. "Trust me, Grunkle Ford, you'll be much more interested in researching this." Her voice shook just a bit.

Dipper stood in the middle of the room, as straight and plain as he could. But his face was flushed and he could feel his ears pulling back as Mabel pushed open the door.

Ford caught sight of Dipper. Dipper clenched his firsts and tried not to let his ears twitch, but they did anyway.

"What on earth?" Ford said, rushing over to Dipper and beginning to examine him. Mabel closed the door. "What happened?" Ford said in astonishment.

"I don't know, you tell me!" Dipper said, his face redder than ever. He flinched as Ford prodded one of his back legs.

"Fascinating!" Ford said in wonder.

Dipper backed up a few steps without falling. "Great Uncle Ford, what happened to me?" He said, trying not to sound panicked. "What am I?"

"The technical term is cervitaur, and I honestly don't know." Ford said, holding out his hands as if to calm Dipper. "But we'll figure it out." He took a slow step closer to Dipper, as if afraid of spooking him. "Just tell me exactly what happened."

Dipper told him how he had begun to itch on the way home, and blacked out in the bathroom.

"The itch was likely the fur growth." Ford said, walking around Dipper and continuing to examine him closely. "But there has to be some inciting incident. Something like this doesn't happen out of the blue."

"Well, I fell in the river just before we came back, but that's it." Dipper said.

Ford looked up sharply. "Wait, what river?" He said.

"What was it called, the… Cantus Fluvius, or something?" Dipper answered curiously.

"The _Commutatus Fluvius_ …" Ford said, grabbing his journal off of Dipper's bed. "Of course!"

Mabel looked at the two of them. "Wait, so it was the river?"

"It must have been," Ford said. "When I was conducting my initial research of Gravity Falls I came upon the river. I could tell that there was something supernatural about it, so I prepared to take a sample. But then several creatures emerged from the forest warning me not to." Ford looked a bit embarrassed. "One of the warnings came from a rather good gnome friend of mine, so I heeded them. I left the river as it was. I'd forgotten about it until now."

Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. "So when I fell in…"

Ford nodded. "Some sort of enchantment took effect. Tell me, did you swallow any of the water?"

"Probably," Dipper said, shrugging. "I was under for a second, and flailing around a lot."

"That must be it. You consumed the water, and that brought upon the transformation." Ford spotted the damp clothes still lying at the foot of Dipper's bed. "Are these what you fell into the river in?"

"Yeah," Dipper said, still rubbing his neck in slight embarrassment.

"Excellent!" Ford picked up the wet clothes and started towards the bedroom door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Dipper asked quickly.

Ford looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to study the water left in your clothes. I should be able to turn you back if I can get a good sample."

Dipper and Mabel both nodded. "Then hurry," Dipper said, "I don't want to be a cervitaur forever!"


	4. Chapter 4

Dipper hid in the attic all day, and Ford stayed in the basement experimenting. Mabel made the excuses at dinner, saying that Dipper was feeling sick. But she didn't like lying to Stan, and was afraid that he could tell she wasn't telling the truth.

After dinner, Mabel grabbed a couple extra blankets, a few water bottles, and some food to bring up to the attic for Dipper. He had improved his coordination thanks to his endless pacing, but he still could not get onto his bed. Mabel put down the blankets in a sort of nest next to the bed that Dipper could comfortably lie in.

"You should eat something, Dip." She said, pushing the plate of food towards him.

He looked at the hamburger with a nauseated look on his face. He picked off the lettuce and tomatoes and left the rest.

"Hmm." Mabel grabbed a water bottle and sat on her bed. "Dipper, are you okay?" She took the lid off the bottle and took a few gulps.

He shot her a look. "What do you think? I'm a freaking deer, I can't tell anyone, I haven't seen anybody all day, and I'm starving!" He crossed his arms and turned away from her.

"Why don't you eat the burger then?"

Dipper shuddered. "I don't think I can. Like, maybe it's the deer thing but it's just… gross. And leave some water for me!" He said, looking at her. "Yeesh, are you going to drink all four bottles?"

Mabel realized that she had finished off the first two bottles already. "Oh, sorry. I'll be right back." She went back downstairs and grabbed more water, plus all the vegetables she could find.

Dipper sighed when she entered the room again. "Much better," he said, grabbing a carrot.

Mabel uncapped another bottle and drank half of it in one breath.

"You're thirsty." Dipper remarked, peeling off more lettuce from the head and biting into the leaves.

"I know," Mabel said. "Dunno why. Maybe I'm dehydrated." She took another gulp of water.

At that moment, a walkie-talkie buzzed in Dipper's backpack. "Dipper? Mabel? Are you there?" came Ford's voice through the static.

Mabel ran over and picked up the communicator. "We're here, what's up?" she asked, puzzled.

"I have reason to believe that even contact with the water from the _Commutatus Fluvius_ may cause contamination," Ford said urgently. "Has anyone else touched the water?"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. "I helped Dipper out of the river…" Mabel said hesitantly.

"Is there anyone else?" Ford asked.

"I don't think so," Mabel answered, but Dipper gasped and snatched the walkie-talkie away from her.

"Ford, didn't you pick up my wet clothes? You touched the water," he said, sounding concerned.

There was static. Then, "Yes, I touched it."

"Ford, are you okay?" Dipper asked urgently.

"I'm-" Static interrupted him for a moment. "…I'll be fine. Radio me if anything happens to Mabel." The line shut off.

The twins looked at each other, scared. "What does he think might happen?" Mabel said, scared.

"I don't know." Dipper looked worried too. "On the bright side, if the same thing happens to you, we'll be twins again!" He gave a weak smile.

"I don't want to be a cervitaur," she said quietly.

Dipper felt a little offended, but he understood. "Trust me, neither did I."

Mabel snuggled up next to him in the blankets, using his long body as a pillow. She absentmindedly took another drink of water. Dipper wrapped the blankets around them both and waited for sleep to come.

But Mabel couldn't fall asleep. Lying against Dipper was warm and comfortable, but as the night dragged on she got thirstier. She couldn't understand it, it seemed like the more water she drank the drier she felt. Eventually she was so uncomfortable that she poured an entire bottle on her face.

Dipper awoke with a start, the cold water having splashed him. He rubbed one eye. "What's up, Mabel?" he asked.

"So thirsty…" she gasped. It was all she could say. She reached for another bottle, and Dipper handed it to her, looking worried.

"You look really dry," he said. "Like, your skin is flaking." He rubbed her arm as she guzzled more water.

"Oww…" She said, curling up in a ball under the blanket.

"What's wrong?" Dipper asked quickly. "Did that hurt? I-"

"My legs," she coughed. "My legs hurt." She gave a sudden gasp, and stopped moving.

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted, standing up quickly and stumbling over his hooves. He pulled her out from under the blanket and saw a tail. Not a short deer tail, but a long shimmery pink fish tail.

He gasped and almost fell over. She was a mermaid! She shook his head. He could think about this later, but right now he had to get her to water. He heaved her limp body onto his back and cantered into the bathroom. He started the tub and flung her into it, plugging the drain quickly. The bathtub filled quickly, and Mabel gasped and opened her eyes.

"Dipper? What happened? I-" she looked down, and saw the long tail snaking out from under her now soaking sweater. "Woah!"

"Yeah. So um, I think touching the river water works too." Dipper said with a small smile.

"No kidding." Mabel said breathlessly.

Dipper looked at her tail in wonder. "Weird that we turned into different things." He thought. "Do you think Ford changed too? Is that why he radioed us earlier?"

"Must be. I wonder what he is," Mabel said, still mesmerized by her shimmering tail. Then she yawned and stretched. "Maybe I can finally get to sleep. I feel much better now." She turned off the water as the tub reached maximum capacity, and curled into a ball at the bottom of the tub. It was deep enough that she could stay completely underwater if she didn't move too much. Dipper watched her fall asleep, tiny bubbles coming out her nose at regular intervals.

It was strange to watch her sleep so peacefully under the water, when he knew that yesterday he would have been performing CPR on her at this point. _She'll be fine_ , he thought, and walked back into their attic bedroom. He was curling back up in his blankets when he remembered Ford's request. He picked up the walkie-talkie and turned it on.

"Ford? Are you there? Come in, Ford."

A roar came through the static in reply. Dipper jumped and dropped the walkie-talkie. He had felt that roar vibrate the floor, and heard it outside the radio. It wasn't as loud as it had been through the walkie-talkie, but his heart was still racing.

"Ford? Are you okay? What happened?"

All Dipper could hear was a low growling now, as if there was a lion on the other end.

"Um… F-ford?" he said slowly, his voice shaking.

The line cut off again. Dipper put the walkie-talkie down, his hands shaking.

It took him a long time to get back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Dipper woke with a start as the attic door banged open. "Alright, kids, enough sleeping in!" Stan said, his cooking gloves on and a frying pan in his hand.

Dipper yanked the covers up his body and tried to cover his ears by pulling on his hat. Stan looked at him, surprised, but he didn't seem to have noticed Dipper's odd behavior or appearance.

"What are you doing on the ground, kid? And where's your sister?"

"Uh, bathroom." Dipper said quickly. It wasn't even a lie.

"Well, come on, it's time for breakfast. And where's Ford? I haven't seen him since yesterday."

"He's p-probably down in the basement. And um, I think I'll stay up here. But thanks." He pulled the blankets up even higher.

Stan rolled his eyes. "Come on, Dipper. You can't be feeling that bad." He walked over and tried to pull the blankets off of Dipper, but he was holding strong.

"No, really Grunkle Stan, I-" Stan yanked the covers out of Dipper's hands. Dipper lurched forward, and his hat fell off.

"Hot Belgian waffles!" Stan exclaimed. He stared at Dipper, fully exposed with the bottom half of a deer.

Dipper got up and galloped past Stan, out the door, and into the bathroom, which he locked behind him. "Mabel!" he said, breathing heavily.

"What?" There was a splash as Mabel popped out of the water and some slopped over the side of the tub. "What happened?"

"Stan saw me," Dipper said, cantering over to her.

At that moment, there was a banging at the door. "Kid, what the heck is going on?" Stan's voice shouted from the other side.

Dipper backed up against the wall, and Mabel sank a bit lower into the water. "What do we do?" She asked, sounding nervous. "I mean, he wouldn't really put us on display, would he?" she looked at her tail, then at Dipper.

"I think he might," Dipper said, voice shaking.

Stan hammered on the door a few more times, then stopped abruptly. "What the-?" they heard him say, before he was cut off by a loud growl like the one Dipper had heard last night. They heard the sounds of a scuffle, then Ford's voice:

"Leave it, Stanley, or I swear I'll tear you apart!" Dipper and Mabel looked at each other in shock. They had never heard Ford speak like that.

A moment of silence followed, then Ford said in a softer voice, "Kids, open the door. I need to talk to you."

Dipper approached the door slowly. Mabel stared at him with fear and confusion. Dipper unlocked the door cautiously.

Ford entered the bathroom, and it was immediately clear that the experiments he had been doing on the river water hadn't gone well. The most noticeable change in his appearance was the pair of huge, multicolored, feathery wings sticking out of his back. His hands and feet were lion's paws, and his ears, like Dipper's, were large and fuzzy. As he turned around to close the door behind him, a tufted tail swept out from beneath his coat.

"Woah," Dipper said.

"Sorry about that, children." Ford said. He faced them and lay down, stretching like a cat. He looked at the shocked looks on their faces. He glanced at Mabel questioningly. "You too, Mabel?"

In reply she flicked her tail out of the water. "Yeah," she said in a hollow voice. "It would be cool if I wasn't stuck in here," she said with a weak smile.

Ford sighed. "Let me think for a moment. All three of us came in contact with the water from the _Commutatus Fluvius_. Dipper changed within an hour into a cervitaur, I changed within ten hours of contact into a sphinx, and Mabel became a mermaid within twelve hours of contact." He rubbed his chin with one paw. "That would suggest that the amount of time needed for the change to take effect is proportional to the amount of water touched. In addition, there does not seem to be a pattern to what types of creatures those affected change into." He pulled out one of his journals and a pen from under his coat and attempted to take notes, but his paws were large and clumsy. He grumbled to himself as he tried to figure out how to hold the pen.

"Grunkle Ford, what are we going to do?" Mabel asked. "I can't live in this bathtub forever!"

"And I don't think I can even go down the stairs!" Dipper said, gesturing to his four legs.

"Calm down, children, we'll figure something out." Ford said, finally succeeding in jotting down a few notes.

At that moment, Stan burst through the bathroom door. "Alright, will someone tell me what the heck is going on here?!" He shouted, pointing one hand at Ford and holding a test tube in the other.

Ford's eyes widened. "Stanley, you didn't interfere with my experiments, did you?"

"So what if I did?" Stan challenged aggressively.

Ford leapt to his feet, his wings spreading out a bit in his agitation. "You idiot, Stanley! Don't you know what you've done?"

"No, I don't! Would someone tell me already?" he looked at Dipper and Mabel, who were both watching the exchange fearfully. "Jeez, kids. What happened to you?" He eyed Dipper's legs and Mabel's tail with a mixture of amusement and apprehension.

"Stanley! Give it back!" Ford said, lunging toward the test tube in Stan's hand.

Stan tried to push him away. "Not until you tell me what's going on!" He held the tube away from Ford, but Ford backed up and pounced on Stan with a growl, knocking him over. The tube flew out of Stan's hand and shattered on the tile floor, splashing both of them with water.

"Oh, great." Ford said in exasperation, getting off of Stan and sitting back on his haunches.

Stan stood up grumpily. "Now will someone please tell me why my family has turned into a freaking LION, FISH, and DEER?" For the first time, they saw some fear in his face.

Ford crossed his arms, but Dipper spoke. "We um, kind of got put under some spell. We really don't know what exactly is happening."

Ford rolled his eyes. "And you'll join us soon enough, Stanley."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stan said sharply, looking at Ford.

"You touched the water," Ford said, "The kids found a river in the forest that seems to carry the curse. And I had some of the river water in that test tube."

"You were keeping this stuff in the house?" Stan asked, outraged.

Ford glared at him. "I was doing experiments, trying to figure out how to reverse it!

And if you hadn't noticed, I paid a price for that!" He stretched out his colorful wings impressively to make his point.

Stan sat down heavily on the bathroom floor. It was now very crowded in there with the four of them, and Ford flinched when Mabel started stroking his wing with a mesmerized look on her face.

"So now what?" Stan asked, his head in his hands.

"I don't know," Ford sighed. "I really don't know.


	6. Chapter 6

Stan left to run a few errands while he still looked human. He bought plenty of food, and even picked up one of the giant hamster balls Mabel had been eyeing all summer. They filled it with water so she could move more freely by rolling around. She also replaced her soaking sweater with a tankini swimsuit top, and had lately taken to swirling around inside of the ball as fast as she could.

Stan closed the Mystery Shack gift shop, and called Wendy and Soos to tell them not to come into work.

Dipper precariously figured out how to descend the stairs, and he, Stan, and Mabel sat watching Ducktective and Tiger Fist all morning. They didn't really have anything else to do. Ford was down in his lab. Around noon Stan was complaining of stiffness, which Dipper and Mabel took to be the first symptom of his change.

"Don't worry, Grunkle Stan," Mabel said, leaning on the edge of the opening in the top of her hamster ball. "It'll be over soon."

Stan grumbled and rubbed his knee. Just then, there was a knock at the front door. All three of them turned to the noise, and Dipper's ears pricked up. Stan groaned as he stood up and went to the door.

"Careful!" Dipper said nervously.

Stan rolled his eyes and opened the door a crack. Wendy and Soos stood on the porch, both looking concerned.

"Stan!" Wendy said in a strained voice, "What's up?"

"We're worried, Mr. Pines!" Soos added. "You never shut down the Mystery Shack!"

"It's nothing," Stan grunted, trying to shut the door, but Wendy stuck her foot in the crack.

"Are Dipper and Mabel okay? Is something wrong?" She asked. Stan had never seen her look so stressed.

"They're fine. You should just leave us alone right now." He avoided meeting their eyes.

"No way!" Wendy said defiantly.

Soos nodded. "If something's wrong, we want to help!"

"No, really, guys-" But Wendy forced her way through the door and past Stan, and Soos followed.

Having heard this exchange from the living room, Dipper and Mabel were scrambling. Mabel grabbed the lid to the hamster ball and screwed it on so the water wouldn't spill, then flicked her tail so the ball rolled behind the couch. Dipper crouched behind it with her as Wendy and Soos entered the room.

"Where are they?" Wendy asked. Then she spotted the top of the large pink ball, partially visible above the couch. "Oh, cool, did Mabel finally get her hamster ball?" She grinned. Mabel was curled at the bottom of the ball, most of which was effectively hidden by the couch, so Wendy didn't see her.

"Yeah, but the kids aren't here right now," Stan said quickly. "Really, you two should just enjoy your day off."

Soos looked at him strangely. "You've never given us a day off, Mr. Pines. What's going on?"

"Nothing! Really, you should just leave," Stan said frantically.

"Seriously, Stan? Are you sick? You look terrible," Wendy looked at him closely, arms crossed. His skin was grayish and rough looking. "We can help if you-"

Stan stamped his foot, making the floor shake and the owl clock fall off the wall. "I'm fine! Now get out!" he said angrily.

Wendy and Soos looked shocked. "Alright, fine," Wendy mumbled. She and Soos walked towards the front door, but Wendy turned around to say one more thing to Stan. Unfortunately, Stan's outburst had caused Mabel's ball to roll out from behind the couch.

Wendy's mouth fell open. "Mabel?"

Dipper poked his head up from behind the couch. Stan slapped his hand to his forehead. Soos turned around.

"Sweet costume, dude!" Soos said, looking at Mabel.

"I don't think that's a costume, Soos," Wendy said slowly. She walked over to Mabel, who had a sort of apologetic, expectant look on her face. Wendy knocked on the surface of the ball and waved at her.

Mabel exhaled, bubbles issuing from her mouth, and rotated the ball until the opening was facing up. She unscrewed the lid and popped her head out. "Hey, Wendy," she said shyly.

"What happened, man?" Wendy asked, looking both astonished and fascinated.

"Long story," Mabel replied. She looked at Stan. "We should probably tell them, Grunkle Stan. We need all the help we can get."

Stan folded his arms angrily. "I'm going straight down to Ford to see if he's figured anything out yet. You two can do the explaining." He marched heavily out of the room, rubbing his back.

Wendy looked around. "Oh, is Dipper here too?"

Dipper crouched lower behind the couch, curling his legs beneath him. He didn't want Wendy to see him like this!

"He's hiding behind the couch," Mabel said bluntly. Dipper glared at nothing.

He heard Wendy approaching, and scrambled to find something to hide under. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to find. He looked up as Wendy poked her head over the side of the couch to see him.

"Woah, dude," she said, half laughing, "Nice legs."

Dipper winced and looked away, embarrassed.

"Oh, come on," she said, holding out her hand to help him up, "I think it's pretty cool." She rubbed the top of his head, her fingers brushing the tips of his ears. He felt a little better at that.

He and Mabel told Soos and Wendy about the river that turned them into monsters. "Ford is studying the water to try to find a cure," Dipper said, "But we have no idea what to do." He glanced at Mabel and looked down, his ears drooping.

"Hey, no worries, bro," Wendy said, "We've got you."

"But what can you do? You don't know how to fix this," Mabel said dejectedly.

Soos smiled. "Maybe not, but we still want to help."

At that moment, Stan and Ford both came into the room. Dipper, Mabel, Soos, and Wendy all stared at Stan. His skin was now a dark gray, and looked hard as stone. An enormous pair of bat-like wings protruded from his back, and his eyes were faintly glowing yellow.

"Wha…?" Mabel started to ask, but Stan cut her off.

"Gargoyle," He grunted. "And we've got some bad news."

Ford sighed. Wendy and Soos were staring at him too, but didn't say anything. "It appears that the enchantment has a very complex psychological component to it. I can't make an antidote," Ford said, "But that doesn't mean that the enchantment is irreversible. However, it will require force of mind and strength of character to overcome."

"Force of mind?" Mabel asked.

"Strength of character?" said Dipper.

"Yes," Ford affirmed. "I haven't figured out the details yet, but it looks as though we are going to be stuck like this for a while."


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the day passed in contentment. With Wendy and Soos there, the Pines felt much more at ease. They played games and watched TV, not unlike any other day in the Mystery Shack. Ford came up and down from the basement, continuing to work on analyzing the water.

"It's a catalyst," he explained to Dipper, who was the only one who would listen. "It doesn't fundamentally change a person, it simply triggers a physical change based on personality."

"Are you saying that I was already a deer on the inside?" Dipper said, slightly offended.

"No, not exactly," Ford said, apparently oblivious to Dipper's discomfort, "It's more like your natural characteristics manifested themselves in something from nature.

"For example, Mabel loves having fun and being free-spirited. This came through in the characteristics of a mermaid, which creatures are free to explore the seas and rivers as they please. Stan is rough and resolute, so he became a creature of stone."

Dipper nodded in understanding. "And sphinxes are associated with knowledge and mystery. You know, like riddles and stuff."

"Exactly," Ford agreed. "So we know how the enchantment initially works. The trick now is finding out how to reverse it."

Soos walked through the kitchen where Dipper and Ford were talking. As he passed, Dipper noticed that he was drinking something out of a beaker.

"Soos! What are you doing?" Dipper shouted, starting towards him with his hooves clacking on the tile floor.

Soos turned and looked at him. "What?" he said, sounding confused. "I'm just drinking some water, dude."

Ford turned and saw the beaker in his hand. "That's the water from the _Commutatus Fluvius_! Where did you-?"

"It was just sitting on the counter. I thought it was a weirdly-shaped water bottle."

Dipper slapped his hand to his forehead. Ford got to his feet and started to growl softly. "Put it down, Soos, we can't let anyone-"

Soos backed up and tripped, and the beaker went flying. It clattered into the sink. "Whoops. Sorry, dude."

Ford rushed to the sink to pick up the bottle. "It's empty!" he said.

"It must have spilled down the sink," Dipper said fearfully.

"All the drains all lead to the water treatment plant. We might have just exposed the entire town!" Ford said, sounding frantic.

"Is it possible that the water will get diluted enough that it won't have any effects if it gets into the town's supply?" Dipper asked, hurrying over to Ford at the sink.

Ford ran a paw through his hair. "Possible, yes, but not likely. How are we going to explain this to the entire town?"

"Aw, I'm really sorry dudes. " Soos said again. Dipper and Ford glared at him.

* * *

Two days later, Dipper woke up in the middle of the night to a strange noise. He was nestled in his little bundle of blankets in the living room, with Mabel in her hamster ball beside him. He jolted awake, certain he had heard a disturbance. He looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then he heard it again, like a howl in the distance. His ears pricked up. Was there a wolf out there?

Instinctively, he wanted to hide. He wanted to run as far away from that sound as he could. He tried to convince himself that he was safe, reminding himself that nothing dangerous could get into the Shack, even if it wanted too. Still, that unnerving howl was getting closer….

He snuggled deeper into his blankets, and closer to Mabel. He tried to go back to sleep, but the slightest sound sent his heart racing. Eventually, despite his fear, he was so tired that his eyes began to droop.

Then he heard a noise at the door. His eyes snapped open. His keen ears twisted toward the sound, and he heard the door creak open. He lay as still as he could, his heart pounding so hard it hurt. A padded footstep. Another. Coming into the living room. He couldn't tell what it was, but it didn't sound like a human. Then he heard a low growl.

That sound sent a jolt through him and he jumped up, running instinctively away from the thing. But he hadn't even reached the doorway when it pounced, knocking him to the ground, its four legs spread over him to keep him from fleeing.

Dipper looked up in terror at the luminescent eyes of a wolf.

"Hey," said a friendly, familiar voice.

Dipper blinked, still too frightened to speak.

"Relax, Dip, I'm just playing with you." The wolf sat back on its haunches, allowing Dipper to scramble upright. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw that the wolf's fur was a fiery orange, and it wore a green plaid shirt.

"W-Wendy?" Dipper asked, his voice shaking.

She grinned. Even though she now had a long snout and pointed ears, Dipper recognized that smile.

"Wendy, you scared me to death!" He shouted angrily at her, a hand held to his chest.

"Sorry, man. I thought it was funny." She shrugged. "I wanted to show you. Pretty cool, right?" She stood up on her hind legs and turned a circle. Her plumed red tail swished across Dipper's face. She faced him again and put her paws on her hips. "I'm like you now!"

"L-like me. Right," Dipper said, privately thinking about how wolves hunted deer. He looked up at her.

She must have seen his expression pretty clearly, because her face softened from its look of hard triumph into something more worried.

"Oh gosh, sorry, Dipper. I really scared you, huh?" She said softly.

Dipper looked down and didn't answer. She sat down next to him and put one paw on his back. "I promise I won't hurt you, Dip. You're like my best friend! I was just excited that I changed too."

"Excited?" Dipper said incredulously. "I was terrified. I still don't like it!" He rubbed one of his fuzzy ears. "Mabel was calling me 'Deerper' earlier today."

Wendy laughed. "That's clever. You should call her 'Mermabel'." Dipper didn't look at her. She tilted her head to one side, and when she caught his eye again, she said, "Look, it's gonna be okay. We're going to figure this out together, alright?"

Dipper nodded. He finally felt calm again.


	8. Chapter 8

Wendy came back the following morning with news. "It's not just me. The whole town's brimming with monsters."

Ford groaned. "Of course. The spilled water got into the supply and infected everyone."

"You make it sound like a disease," Mabel said, swishing her tail to keep the open end of the ball upright. "Can't it just be cool?"

Ford rolled his eyes and went back to flipping through his old journal.

"Ford, they're freaking out," Wendy said in a worried voice. "You have to tell them something."

Ford turned his back on her.

"Well, at least that means we can go out in public, right?" Mabel said hopefully.

"I guess," Dipper replied, though he was still rather self-conscious. "What's happened to everyone else, Wendy?"

The Pines already knew about Wendy being a wolf, and Soos had turned up yesterday looking like he was made of some kind of playdough goop. Ford called him a golem.

"Well, Robbie's a zombie," Wendy said, "My dad's turned into some half-man half-bull thing, my brothers all look like me, and I saw lazy Susan walking around looking like a cat. Oh, and I saw an albino bat flapping around, which I think might be Gideon. But other than that, I don't recognize many people. Most of my friends haven't replied to my texts either." She looked more worried than ever. "You have to do something!"

"Like what?" Ford snapped. "I don't have a cure. The only thing I could tell them is that it's our fault they turned into monsters!"

"Tell them you're working on a cure!" Dipper said urgently. "Otherwise, the town might tear itself apart!"

Ford crossed his arms, looking grumpy.

"Please, Grunkle Ford," Mabel pleaded. "I want to go see my friends."

Ford sighed. "Fine. Get everyone together at the town square, I only want to say this once and then I'll be back to my research."

"Thank you!" Mabel said, screwing on her lid and rolling towards the door. Dipper followed her out apprehensively, but kept up as she swam furiously toward town.

The first person they saw was Tad Strange. He didn't look like a monster, though. In fact, he looked almost normal until he turned around. They saw that part of his hair had turned white, and that he was now wearing glasses. There was a third eye on his forehead, though it didn't seem to be functional, and purple tattoos covered his neck and arms.

"Hey, Tad!" Mabel said as they approached him, her voice muffled by the plastic of the ball. He turned and waved at them.

"What's up with you?" Dipper said, "You haven't changed much."

Tad opened his mouth to speak. "Perhaps you need to look further than the surface to see the most important changes," he said. His voice was still clearly his, but it was also so smooth and sonorous that Mabel's eyes drooped, and Dipper wobbled unsteadily. "Look past the things you think you see. Move your head just a touch to the left- a glance in the world of perspectives- and then you might see it. An entire universe in the corner of your eye." He said in his hypnotic voice.

Dipper tried to focus, but his eyes were blurry. Tad continued talking, but Dipper couldn't make out the meaning of his words. "I could teach and preach and shout and explain, but no lesson is as powerful as the lesson learned on one's own." Dipper collapsed to the ground. Mabel sunk to the bottom of her hamster ball. Tad crouched down next to them and spoke softer. "We will always be in that most dangerous, most exciting, most possible time of all. The now. Where we can never know what shape the next moment will take. You must learn this someday, but for _this_ moment, _this_ now, goodnight, children, goodnight.

Dipper blacked out.

* * *

Dipper came to lying in the middle of town square. Mabel was stirring in her hamster ball next to him, but there was no sign of Tad Strange. He got up unsteadily and leaned lightly on the ball. That was the strangest thing…

Mabel awoke fully with a little spasm that sent the ball rocking. Dipper wobbled, but managed to stay up.

Mabel glanced around. "What happened?" she asked. "How long were we out?"

"Only for a few minutes, I think," Dipper said, shaking his head in an effort to clear the fog that seemed to have invaded it. "That was so weird…. We should probably be a bit more careful. Who knows what other powers people have gotten?"

But as they continued through town, it appeared that most people had merely suffered a physical change like themselves. They spread the word about a town meeting and told everyone that the answers would be explained there.

As they were heading back towards the Shack, they ran into Robbie. "You!" he said, coming towards them.

"What?" Dipper said nervously, backing up a few steps.

Robbie came right up to the twins, and they could see that Wendy had been right. His skin was a grayish-green, and his eyes were vaguely luminescent. He seemed even more lanky and gaunt than before, and as he stomped up to them his right hand fell off.

"Darn it!" He said, picking up the twitching hand and reattaching it to his wrist. Then he turned to Dipper. "What did you do, kid?" he said aggressively.

"W-what?" Dipper asked, confused.

"I know you had something to do with this! All this crazy monster stuff- it's got to be your fault!" He glared at Dipper, whose ears were pulled back in disquiet as Robbie's emaciated face loomed closer.

"I-I… I don't…" Dipper was stammering.

Mabel piped up. "Leave it, Robbie! Just come to the meeting later and everything will be explained." She looked at him defiantly.

Robbie frowned at her, then looked back at Dipper. "Fine. But if this is your fault, I'll send you back into the forest with your fuzzy little tail between your legs. Got it, deer kid?"

Dipper gulped as Robbie stomped away, watching him as he occasionally stopped to pick up a fallen body part.

"Relax, Dipper." Mabel said, looking at him sympathetically.

"But he's right! This is my fault! If I hadn't gone looking for that stupid river…!" He clutched his head in his hands and lowered his back legs so he was in a sort of kneeling position.

Mabel put her hands out as if to hug him or pull him up, but she was encased in the hamster ball. "It doesn't matter, Dipper. All we can do right now is try to fix it."

He didn't look at her, but walked dejectedly back to the Shack.


	9. Chapter 9

At the meeting, Ford explained to everyone what he knew about the enchantment. But the fact that he didn't have a cure was not received well. Indeed, a few howls and even some demonic whispering escaped the crowd when he got to that part.

"I am currently working on a physical remedy, but for now, I have a theory." Ford said loudly over the murmuring of the crowd. When they didn't settle down, Ford got impatient.

"QUIET!" He roared, his lion's voice making the ground rumble. The crowd fell silent. "All I can tell you is this. Each of us has changed into something that represents both our strengths and our weaknesses. The key to becoming ourselves again is to accept both, as we are." A few more whispers raced through the crowd, but no one dared speak up. "When you can truly accept who you are, then I believe you will be able to change back."

Everyone looked around at each other, unsure of how to take this news.

"Meeting dismissed." Ford said with finality. Then he spread his enormous wings and flew back towards the Mystery Shack.

As the crowd dispersed, Dipper, who had come back to see how the news was taken, noticed something odd. Everyone in town had transformed, and though most retained a fairly humanlike shape, he saw only two people who could have passed for truly human. One was Tad Strange, but the other he had never seen before, or at least, he didn't recognize him. It was a tall, lanky man with blonde hair, though the roots were black. He was wearing a snappy suit with a yellow vest and an eyepatch over his right eye. Something about this man unsettled Dipper, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

"Mabel, do you see that guy?" Dipper whispered, pointing. From their vantage point near the podium, they could see most of the people who had turned up.

"Which one?" She asked, her head poking out of the hole in the top of her ball.

"The one that actually looks human. With the eyepatch." Dipper said. The man, though a great distance away, turned his head and stared right at the twins. Dipper quickly looked away.

"Creepy," Mabel said. "He reminds me of someone…" She screwed up her face as though trying to remember.

"Me too." Dipper glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. He was still staring at them. Most of the other people had cleared away now, so Dipper turned his back and handed Mabel her hamster ball lid. "Let's head back. We can think about it later."

Mabel bit her lip. "Um, actually I might catch up with you later, Dip. I was going to go hang out with Candy and Grenda at the lake."

Dipper looked at her. "What? But we were going to-"

"It's just for today. You can come join us if you want, but I want to stretch my tail. I've got to have something else to swim in besides this tiny ball." She screwed the lid back on top and turned toward the lake. She looked back at Dipper and said, "I'll see you later, okay?" And without waiting for a response, she rolled the ball in the direction of the lake.

Dipper sighed and turned back to where the mysterious man had been standing, but he was gone. Grumbling, Dipper trotted into the forest in the direction of the Shack. But he didn't really feel like going back just now, not without Mabel. So he took a detour into the woods. He found a comfortable little clearing with good light and sat down on the soft grass. He took out his notebook, not one of Ford's journals, but the small spiral notebook he carried with him for his own investigations.

In it, he sketched the man he had seen. He wasn't much of an artist, but he got the basics of the man's appearance down. He wracked his memory for details, seeking clues to the man's identity. He had had a pointed nose, shaggy but somewhat neat hair, and a pointed face. What had he been wearing? Black dress pants and a white shirt, Dipper thought. And a yellow vest. Wasn't he wearing a tie? Dipper squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember. Eventually, he sketched out all the details he could muster.

It wasn't a very neat drawing, but it was accurate enough that the sight of the man bothered him, even on paper. He stared at it nonetheless, trying to place him.

Wait, that wasn't right. Dipper erased the long, formal tie he had given the man and replaced it with a bow tie. There.

Suddenly Dipper reeled back. He knew who it was now. It was a human version of Bill Cipher.

Dipper's mind was racing. Bill had become human? Was that the effect of the water? How had Bill come in contact with it? Did he still have his demonic powers? What did he want? As his mind flooded with worry and questions, he gasped. He had to warn Ford. He got up quickly to run back to the Shack, but someone stepped out from behind the trees in front of him.

"Not so fast, Pine Tree." Bill said. It was odd to hear Bill's voice coming out of a human, moving mouth.

"Bill!" Dipper cried. "What do you want?"

Bill leaned against a tree casually. "I just want to talk, kid. Nice legs, by the way, they really work for you." He smirked.

Dipper glared at him, his ears sticking out to the sides. "Why were you affected, Bill?"

He rolled his eyes. "You really expect me to tell you anything, Pine Tree? I'm asking the questions here." He crossed his arms. "Your know-it-all uncle gave a pretty decent explanation back there, but I know there's more to it than that." He approached Dipper slowly, glaring at him with his one slit-pupiled eye. "I know there's a way to change back without all this self-acceptance nonsense. And you are going to find out what it is for me. Got it, kid?"

"Why would I help you?" Dipper said defiantly.

"Because," Bill replied, "Even though my power is diminished while I'm in this form, there are certain rules that no longer bind me. I can hurt you, Pine Tree. I can hurt everyone you care about." His voice lowered threateningly. "And I will if you don't cooperate."

Dipper took a step back in fear, but Bill grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up into the demon's face. "You are going to cooperate, kid, or you'll wish you had never set foot in this town." Bill held up his other hand, and it was wreathed in blue fire. He held it close to Dipper's face. "You don't want to see the full extent of my power, kid. Even in this form I can do things you've never imagined. So don't cross me."

Bill let go of Dipper and extinguished the fire. "Well, nice chat, Pine Tree, but I must be going!" He said cheerily, "Things to do, people to see, you know! I'll be back to check on your progress later." He strolled out of the clearing, leaving Dipper shaking.


	10. Chapter 10

Mabel unscrewed the lid of her hamster ball and dove into the lake. It was wonderful to not be confined! She sped through the water effortlessly, enjoying the sensation of the rushing bubbles on her skin.

She swam to the waterfall, which is where Candy and Grenda said to meet. She hadn't seen either of them yet, just talked on the phone. But they both assured her that they would meet her there. She wondered what kind of creatures they were.

When she reached the waterfall, she looked around. She had expected to see Candy and Grenda on the shore, but they were nowhere in sight. She twisted in the water, looking for them on all sides, when there was a tugging on her tail. Something strong pulled her under the water, and she spun to face it. To her surprise, she saw Grenda holding onto her tail. She now had the bottom half of an octopus, not unlike Ursula in The Little Mermaid. However, her tentacles were orange, she was wearing a pink tank top that matched nicely, and she looked much happier.

"Mabel!" Grenda said. Her voice carried clearly through the water, though they were both about ten feet under.

"Oh, Grenda! That's so cool!" Mabel said, looking at her tentacles. "I didn't know you were a water creature too!"

"I know, right?" Grenda said in her abrasive voice. "It's awesome! And look at Candy!" She pointed.

Mabel looked in the direction Grenda was pointing and saw Candy hiding in a clump of seaweed. She looked more or less humanoid, but her skin was greenish and her hair blended perfectly with the weed she was hiding it. Her hands and feet were webbed, but she was still wearing her glasses.

"I am a nymph!" She said, swimming towards Mabel and Grenda.

"This is great!" Mabel said, beaming, "We can still all hang out together!" She swam forward and hugged them. They all laughed happily.

The three girls spent the day playing games and exploring the lake. They dived all the way to the bottom, where they found a few gold coins, and raced from one side of the lake to the other. They jumped and flipped and dove and laughed. It was one of the best days of Mabel's life.

* * *

Dipper raced back to the Shack. He barged inside and shut the door quickly behind him. "Grunkle Ford!" he called, heading towards the basement.

"What is it, Dipper?" Ford's voice came from the kitchen. Dipper hurried to him.

"F-ford," He huffed, out of breath, "I saw- I saw Bill."

Ford looked worried. "Bill Cipher? Oh, that's the last thing we need right now! Where-?"

Dipper shook his head and cut Ford off "There's more," he said, "Bill transformed too."

Ford's eyes went wide. "Bill was affected? How? What did he become?" he pulled out his journal and a pen, preparing to take notes.

"I don't know how," Dipper said, still breathing heavily, "But he's human. Well, mostly. He still has some of his power but other than that-"

"He's human?" Ford asked in astonishment. "Are you sure it was Bill?"

Dipper nodded. "Positive." He handed Ford the sketch of Bill he had drawn in the forest. "He talked to me. He wants me to tell him how to turn back."

Ford scoffed. "I can't see Bill attempting self-reflection. Looks like he's going to be stuck for awhile." He said dismissively.

"Ford, he thinks there's another way. He's not going to take no for an answer. He- he's going to do something terrible if I don't help him."

Ford looked at Dipper sharply. "You didn't make a deal with him, did you?"

"No," Dipper said quickly, "But he said that different rules apply when he has a physical form."

"A limited physical form, perhaps." Ford muttered to himself. He thought for a moment. "I've got it! If he was possessing someone when that person came in contact with the water, that might have caused him to transform and forced him out of them. His power is diminished, and he wants his original form back in order to cause…" He trailed off.

"Cause what?" Dipper asked quickly. "Do you know what he wants?"

"I need to show you something." Ford said, gesturing for Dipper to follow him. They went down to Ford's lab, where he showed Dipper a chalkboard covered in chaotic drawings and equations.

"This is what Bill wants. A catastrophe that I call 'Weirdmageddon'. It would allow him to take control of this world, and cause as much chaos as he wanted. He would also be able to gain a physical form. In a human form, he cannot carry out his plans. But in a fully restored physical form under Weirdmageddon, he would be able to do almost anything. We can't let that happen."

"What can he do in a human form?" Asked Dipper. "Is he still a threat, or could we really just leave him as he is?"

Ford looked at him with a worried expression. "I honestly don't know, Dipper."

"But he said that if I didn't help him, he would hurt Mabel, and you and Stan and everyone else! What am I going to do?"

"I'll have to see for myself exactly what's going on. Stay close to me until you see him again. In the meantime, I am working on an interesting mixture, come and see." He walked over to a lab table that was cluttered with beakers, burners, and bottles of strange substances.

"It looks like an alchemy lab," Dipper said.

"It is," Ford replied. "I am developing a potion that might allow easier transformation. If this works, we will still need to evaluate our character to become ourselves again, but it might make it easier. Along with another interesting… side effect."

"Side effect?" Dipper asked, alarmed. "What would it do?"

Ford bent down to study a book of equations, but continued talking. "If I am correct, it will also allow us to change back and forth at will after the first transformation."

Dipper stared. "Why?"

Ford laughed. "You might be surprised at how attached you become to those legs. Would you really want to change back forever?"

"I don't think I'd mind much," Dipper mumbled.

Ford looked at him. "These creatures are a part of us, Dipper. However we may look on the outside, we will always be connected to this part of ourselves."

Dipper looked away, tilting his hat down so Ford wouldn't see his eyes. He didn't like being told that he was going to have a little bit of this timid, jumpy deer inside him forever.

"And personally," Ford added, "I quite like these wings. They're very useful." He unfurled them, stretching.

"Well, you got something cool!" Dipper exclaimed, unable to hold his feelings in anymore. "All I got are these stupid twig legs and a pair of twitchy ears. Mabel can breathe underwater and you and Stan can both fly and I'm just sitting here looking like a freak! What's cool about that?" He balled his fists at his sides, trying not to let Ford see that his eyes were starting to fill.

Ford was silent. Dipper turned and walked towards the elevator to go back up to the Shack.

"Dipper," Ford said softly. Dipper looked over his shoulder at his uncle, but Ford didn't have anything else to say.


	11. Chapter 11

/AN: I usually don't do authors' notes, but WOW. You guys were absolutely screaming at me to continue this one! I'm sorry it took so long, I blame limited computer time and massive writer's block. But oh man, your reviews did wonders for my motivation! It means so much to me that you guys care. And to say thanks, I've got an extra-long chapter for you! Enjoy!

* * *

Mabel surfaced at the edge of the lake, sweeping her wet hair back. Candy and Grenda came up next to her. They had been out swimming all day, and were exhausted.

Mabel looked up at the sky, which was slowly turning a deep blue as the sun set. "I should probably get back," She said. "It's getting late."

"Yes, we should all go home now," Candy said, wading to the edge of the lake and climbing out. Grenda followed, moving awkwardly on land as she maneuvered her tentacles. Grenda pulled Mabel out of the water and put her back in her hamster ball as Candy picked up the lid and handed it to her.

"See you again soon!" Mabel said as she screwed the lid onto her ball. Candy and Grenda waved goodbye as they made their way back towards town. Mabel flicked her tail and rolled back to the Shack.

When she reached the Shack, she knocked the ball against the kitchen window to let Stan know she was there. Stan came out and rolled the ball inside through the specially enlarged door Ford had installed.

Once in the living room, Mabel opened her lid and popped her head out to talk to Stan. "Where's Dipper?" she asked.

"Don't know," Stan replied. "I haven't seen him since earlier today. He came racing into the house calling for Ford."

"Do you know why?" Mabel asked in concern.

Stan shrugged. "Ask my brother. It must have something to do with his science junk."

Mabel glared at him. "Or he could have found a lead on turning back!" she said.

Stan ruffled her wet hair affectionately. "Yeah, maybe. Sorry, Mabel, I've just had a lot on my mind lately." He smiled at her and walked out of the room.

"Haven't we all…" Mabel muttered as she put the lid back on her hamster ball and curled up at the bottom.

* * *

Dipper was wandering the woods again. Though he knew it would be best to heed Ford and stay in the Shack, he didn't want to be around anyone right now.

He tried not to think about Bill as he trotted through the trees. However, when he did manage to get his mind off the demon, his thoughts turned instead to the whole "monster self reflection" predicament.

He settled on a soft patch of ground well hidden by trees. He tucked his legs beneath him awkwardly and took off his hat, staring at it. The pine tree symbol on the front reminded him of Bill, but it reminded him even more of his humanity. In so many ways, the hat had become his sense of self. Was it possible that, even with this altered form, he was still the same? That's what Ford had said. That fundamentally, they hadn't really changed. That they were simply… what was it? Manifesting themselves in a new way?

Dipper tried to comprehend it. It wasn't as though he'd always been a deer. But maybe it was more metaphorical than that. He had always been paranoid, but also curious. And yeah, maybe kind of jumpy. So now he just had a few physical traits to match his personality. He shook his head. Even if that was true, it was a huge thing to get used to. He'd been changed before anyone else in Gravity Falls. He should be the first to accept it, right?

But Mabel seemed to be fine with it. Ford and Soos and Wendy seemed fine with it. Even Stan wasn't having too hard a time.

Dipper ripped out a clump of grass at his side. It wasn't fair. It seemed like everyone had some cool new advantage over being human. Why wasn't he the same way? He absentmindedly shredded the handful of grass as his thoughts swirled darkly. He didn't deserve this. Even if it was just a manifestation of his personality, it seemed to make everything more intense. He had been even more paranoid lately, more jumpy and nervous. This stupid deer body amplified those instincts.

Come to think of it, he'd never even heard of a cervitaur before. He'd heard of mermaids and sphinxes and gargoyles, but who ever had the idea of a deer person? Why was he the one who stood out, even when everyone was different?

He ripped out another tuft of grass in anger. He gripped it tightly, as though he could squeeze the emotions out of himself and into the grass.

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that at first he didn't hear the rustling. It was only when the noise was accompanied by a soft hiss that he snapped out of it.

His head jerked around toward the sound. He held very still, with his ears pricked up. There it was again- a faint rustle, coming towards him. His tail twitched when he heard another hiss.

It sounded like a snake. A big one. Were large snakes native to Oregon? Dipper considered running, but he wasn't sure he could get up and going fast enough to outdistance it. It sounded close, and he still wasn't used to his legs.

He held perfectly still, hoping the trees and underbrush concealed him enough that the thing would pass him by. He trembled slightly as he heard it approaching.

Listening closely, he heard several small hisses in quick succession. Was there more than one? The hissing grew in volume and intensity. Dipper felt his muscles tense in anticipation.

As the sound became one long unending hiss, a sudden familiar voice rang out through the trees.

"Oh, will you just _shut up_?!"

Dipper jumped in surprise. Was that… Pacifica?

He poked his head up from behind the bush, staring at the figure silhouetted before him in the darkness.

It looked like Pacifica, all right. Until strands of her hair started moving away from her head, as if they had minds of their own.

Pacifica's head turned towards Dipper. "Who's there?"

Dipper stared at her eyes. They looked strangely bright and colorful, and the more he looked at them the less he could focus on anything else. He stood up in a daze. "It's Dipper," he said vaguely.

"D-Dipper?" Pacifica asked, her eyes dimming. She shook her head. "Agh, I did it again!"

Dipper started, as if waking from a trance. "What? Pacifica? Where did you- Did what again?" He blinked rapidly, trying to regain his composure.

"I-" Pacifica started, but she shut her mouth and turned away. "Nothing. What are you doing out here, anyway?" She tried to say it in her usual condescending way, but she didn't quite succeed.

"What are _you_ doing out here?" Dipper asked pointedly. He looked her over. She had tiny yellow snakes for hair, and instead of legs a long serpent tail flowed from under her skirt. Dipper concluded that she had become a gorgon- a snake creature from Greek mythology, similar to Medusa. But less lethal.

She bit her lip, looking down. "Nothing."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. Pacifica blanched, apparently trying to decide whether or not to tell him.

"I've run away," She said in a rush, turning her back on Dipper.

"You _what_?" Dipper asked, astonished.

"I ran away, okay?!" She said.

"But… why?" Dipper asked, confused. Pacifica had a perfect life- anything she could ask for she could have. Why on earth would she leave?"

"It's this stupid monster thing," Pacifica said. "My parents are… well, they don't like me much anymore. If they ever did." She muttered resentfully.

"But what about them? What did they change into?" Dipper asked, still confused.

"They didn't change." Pacifica said darkly. "I'm the only one."

"What?" Dipper's eyes went wide. "How is that possible?"

Pacifica looked away. "Well, it's stupid, really. The curse spread through the water, right?" She looked at Dipper, who nodded. Pacifica groaned. "Of course. My parents are too _wealthy_ to drink tap water. They only drink the highest quality bottled water, imported from the Swiss Alps."

Dipper looked at her in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Do you honestly think they'd drink dirty tap water?" Pacifica said condescendingly.

"Well what about you?" Dipper said, raising an eyebrow. "Obviously you drank the 'dirty tap water' or you wouldn't be like this."

As if to prove his point, a few of the snakes protruding from Pacifica's head hissed softly. She blushed and looked away again. "I didn't care."

"Didn't care about what?" Dipper asked.

"I didn't care about what my parents wanted. I mean, ever since the ball a few weeks ago…"

Dipper nodded. He remembered how Pacifica had defied her parents, declaring that she would fix the family name. "So did you drink tap water to annoy them, or…?"

Pacifica shrugged. "I mean, sort of. I'm not exactly forbidden to drink tap water, but I knew they wouldn't like it if I did. Lately I've been doing little things, trying not to let them control me so much. Drinking tap water, coming home with muddy shoes… I even helped one of the servants clean up dinner the other night."

"Wow, Pacifica, that's…" Dipper hesitated. "That's great! I know that's a big deal for you." He smiled, if slightly sardonically.

Pacifica smiled shyly. "So, what about you?"

"Me?"

"What are you doing out here so late? I explained myself, now it's your turn."

"Oh…" Dipper looked away, his fluffy ears pulling down. "It's nothing. Nothing important."

Pacifica gave him a skeptical look. "I know you're weird, Dipper, but you've got to have some reason for being in the middle of the woods after dark."

Dipper sighed in resignation. She had spilled her guts to him, after all. "Just thinking, really. About this whole monster thing."

Pacifica looked down. "I guess that makes sense. Isn't your uncle working on how to change back?"

"He's trying…" Dipper bit his lip, but couldn't stop the words from pouring out of him. He couldn't keep it bottled up anymore. "But, Pacifica, it doesn't make any sense! I mean, Ford says that we can change back if we 'accept who we are' or some junk. What does that have to do with being monsters? It's not like I was a jumpy little deer before a week ago! It's not me! This-" he gestured to his elongated body and skinny legs- "this will never be who I am!" He stomped a front hoof emphatically.

Pacifica was silent. "Dipper…" she paused. "I know how it is to feel out of place in your own body." She said softly. "I don't mean this," she waved a hand at her snake tail, "I mean… with my parents. Always forcing me to act the way they want me to. I could never really… be myself." She sighed. "Now that I'm, well, a monster, I almost feel like it's a new beginning. Like I can finally be me. Without caring what my parents or anyone else thinks!" She raised her head defiantly.

Dipper smiled softly. "Well, I'm glad it works for you. I was getting really sick of the pretentious rich girl." He nudged her.

She laughed. "Me too." Then she blushed, seeming to realize what that implied. "Um… I'm…" She took a deep breath, then said in a rush, "I'm sorry for how I treated you and Mabel." She looked down, as if she couldn't believe what she had said.

Dipper's smile was wider now. More genuine. "Thanks, Pacifica."


	12. Chapter 12

Dipper woke up the next day feeling calmer than he had since before he'd changed. Somehow, talking to Pacifica last night had really helped. He took a deep breath and stretched.

"You look happy," Mabel said. She was leaning over the opening of her hamster ball, flicking between the tv channels.

"I had a nice rest," Dipper said cheerfully, kicking off the blankets covering him and standing up. He had made it halfway to the living room door when Mabel called him back.

"Seriously, what's up?" She said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What? Nothing's up," Dipper said, confused.

"Why are you so… cheerful?" Mabel said, looking confused. "You _never_ wake up happy."

Dipper shrugged. "I told you, I finally got some good sleep. Did a lot of thinking last night, I guess it cleared my mind."

"Okay…" Mabel said slowly, still looking a bit doubtful. "Where are you going, then?"

"Just out for a walk." Dipper said casually. "Just me and my thoughts, out in the woods." He grinned at Mabel before trotting out the door.

Mabel looked after him skeptically. "If you say so…" She muttered, returning her attention to the tv.

She didn't get a chance to decide on a channel, however, as Stan came in at that moment and grabbed the remote from her.

"Hey!" Mabel shouted indignantly. "Grunkle Stan!"

"Sorry, kiddo, but a new episode Baby Fights is about to start. Madison is finally going to tell Avery what she thinks of her!"

Mabel rolled her eyes but didn't argue. It was good to have some sense of normalcy, even if it was the normalcy of Stan's weird obsessions.

Stan tried to sit on the couch, but it creaked ominously as he put his increased weight on it. He scowled and settled in further. Suddenly there was a loud crack and the couch collapsed, sending Stan to the floor with a thud.

"Snazzy batshirt!" Stan exclaimed angrily. He stood up to take a look at the broken couch. "Ugh, I'll be so glad when this is all over," he grumbled, prodding an exposed couch beam with his foot.

"When what is over?" Mabel asked.

"This stupid curse!" Stan yelled. He kicked the remains of the couch so hard that parts of it went skidding across the floor.

Mabel jumped at Stan's sudden aggression. She hadn't thought he was taking it this badly.

Stan sat on the floor with a thump, putting a hand over his eyes. "Ugh, sorry Mabel. I'm just sick of this whole thing." He groaned and looked down at his rough gray arms. "I just… I don't like change, okay?" He grumbled.

Mabel blinked in surprise. Was Stan really so rattled by all of this that he was going to spill his guts? He wouldn't let himself be that vulnerable, surely….

But Stan looked away from her, and she could see he was clenching his jaw. He must have been more upset than Mabel had realized.

"Have you tried?" Mabel asked tentatively.

"Tried what?" Stan snapped back.

"Tried to change back," she replied nervously.

"How would I?" Stan said irritably. "My good for nothing brother hasn't even gotten close to a cure yet."

"But…" Mabel hesitated, then took a deep breath. "But didn't Ford say we don't really _need_ a cure? That we can change back if we… accept who we are or something?"

Stan scoffed. "Oh, come on Mabel. You actually bought that? He was only saying it so the town wouldn't come rioting and burn down the Shack."

Mabel frowned at Stan's dismissive tone. "I don't know, it sounded legit to me."

"If it were as easy as that, people would have started changing back by now. I don't think anyone's gotten close." Stan sounded bitter.

"I don't think anyone's really tried…" Mabel said under her breath.

Dipper took a deep breath, relishing the cool morning air. Strangely, he felt more at ease out here in the woods than he had anywhere else since he changed.

He was just wandering, enjoying the simple sensations of the forest. It made a nice change from his usual busy, analytic mindset. He really needed to relax more often. And who knew? He might even run into Pacifica out here.

A small frown crept onto Dipper's face as he wondered where Pacifica had slept last night. She obviously hadn't been in a comfortable position to go home. His frown deepened. Now that he thought about it, he probably should have checked if she had somewhere to go before saying goodbye last night. He hoped she was okay.

Well, he would ask her if he saw her. Right now, with the dappled sunlight shining through the canopy of leaves above him, he felt too peaceful to worry about anything.

 _BANG_!

There was a deafening noise, and Dipper felt a sudden, searing pain in his lower back. He felt his knees buckle and he collapsed, his brain sluggishly trying to process what had happened.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." A high-pitched, nasal voice rang out from the thick trees behind the shaking child.

Dipper shuddered involuntarily. His mind was foggy with pain and shock, but he would have recognized that voice even in perfect unconsciousness.

The human form of Bill Cipher strolled into Dipper's blurry line of sight. He crouched at the boy's eye level, a sadistic smirk on his pointed face.

"Whoopsie!" Bill said sarcastically, looking at a watch on his wrist. "Looks like deer season started early this year!" He gave Dipper an evil grin. Slowly, almost lazily, he reached up to grab the brim of Dipper's hat. Then he whipped it off with a dramatic flick of his wrist, exposing the stubs of antlers poking through Dipper's curly hair. "And what a shame," Bill said, "Such a pitiful rack on this one." He threw the hat back at Dipper and stood up, his cruel smile widening. "I guess the only thing this one's good for is venison." Bill started to laugh.

Dipper was shaking violently. He had only two distinguishable thoughts: _pain_ and _danger_. He had to run. He had to get away from here, find safety.

Dipper blearily tried to raise himself onto his front legs, but as he moved the pain flared in his back. His front right leg didn't seem to be working right. He felt it twitch as he fell to the ground again. _Run, run run!_ His instincts were screaming at him. _This creature brings danger!_

The man in front of him crouched again and grabbed Dipper's arm. "Unless…"

Dipper was writhing violently now, trying to escape Bill's grip. He might have been screaming; he couldn't tell.

"Shut up and listen, Pine Tree," Bill growled. His sadistic, mocking tone had turned more serious and menacing. "There's one thing you can do if you don't want to be my dinner tonight." He shoved his face close to Dipper's, his one slit-pupiled eye glaring at the boy's two panicked ones. "Tell me how to fix it."

"Wh-wha-?" Dipper could barely speak. He muttered incomprehensibly for a moment, trying to focus on Bill. "What…?"

"The cure, Pine Tree! Tell me where it is!" Bill shook him roughly, jarring his injured back.

"Buh… Buh dere's nah…" Dipper slurred. He couldn't seem to string his thoughts together, let alone his words. He blinked rapidly. "There's not… no cure…"

"Don't play with me, kid," Bill snarled, squeezing Dipper's arm so tightly his fingernails almost broke the boy's skin.

Dipper yelped in pain. "I swear…" He mumbled through his tears, "We don't…"

Bill's eye narrowed. "You need more motivation?" He hissed. There was a slight flicker of uncertainty in the demon's face, but Dipper, panicked as he was, didn't see it. "Fine." Bill stood up abruptly, walking around Dipper.

Dipper let out a blood curdling shriek as he felt Bill's foot hit his wound.

"How 'bout now?" Bill shouted at him.

But Dipper could no longer speak. His breath was coming in sharp bursts, harsh noises like a frightened animal tearing at his throat.

"Tell me!" Bill got ready to kick Dipper again, but before he could strike he was slammed to the ground. A massive, furry creature stood over him, baring its sharp teeth in a menacing growl. Bill scrambled back, trying to get away from the huge, orange wolf.

Dipper was in a shaking heap on the ground, trying to breathe through the pain. He turned his head to see what had distracted his torturer, but the sight of the large predator sent his heart racing again. Frantic, he tried to stand one more time, but he had no strength left. All he could do was hold one hand to his bleeding back and try not to lose consciousness.

Meanwhile, the wolf was advancing on Bill.

"Get back, Red!" Bill shouted, encasing one hand in blue fire. "Don't even try, you filthy-"

Before he could finish the threat, the wolf attacked. It lunged too fast for Bill's human body to react, and it raked a claw across his chest.

Bill inhaled sharply. He fell back, looking down at his bloody chest. His eye widened in surprise. "Blood?" He gasped, "I shouldn't have…" He lifted a hand to his torn shirt, apparently to confirm that his body had been damaged.

"No!" Bill shouted at the sight of blood on his fingertips. His voice came out a mixture of angry and fearful. "No!" Bill said again, trying to erase the fear from his voice. He shouldn't even have a concept of fear.

Bill's head jerked up at a harsh bark from the wolf. He glared at the creature, trying to think. The pain made it difficult. _This stupid, weak fleshbag!_ He thought angrily. All he could think to do now was retreat. He backed away slowly, keeping his gaze on the wolf. It was still crouched in a hostile position, its hackles raised and teeth exposed. Bill continued to walk backwards until the beast was out of sight, then he made his way back to his hiding place, determined to repair this broken vessel he so unfortunately was stuck in.

As soon as the demon was gone, the huge wolf turned to face the wounded fawn on the ground.

Dipper was trembling, tears running down his face and his breath coming in shallow sobs of pain. The wolf snuffed gently at the wound in his back, then padded around to face him.

"Dipper?" The wolf asked in a much more human voice than it should have been able to produce. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"

Dipper looked up, but his eyes were crazed with pain and fear. He shuffled away from the wolf weakly, but his strength gave out before had had moved more than a few inches.

Wendy's eyes widened when she realized how badly Dipper was hurt. She reached to pick him up, moving slowly as not to spook him.

Dipper was shaking violently now. His eyes were closed, and the wound in his back was bleeding freely. She had to get him home _now_.

Wendy scooped Dipper into her arms. Though his deer body was fairly heavy, her already impressive muscles had been enhanced when she'd transformed. Her muzzle shifted back into her more human face, but she kept her legs wolfish for maximum speed as she sprinted back to the Shack.


End file.
